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Batavia OKs revised Shodeen blueprint after mayor breaks tie vote

[The proposed One Washington Place development in downtown Batavia is shown here as initially envisioned from North River Street.]

BATAVIA – The Batavia City Council has approved Shodeen Construction’s proposed building changes to the One Washington Place downtown redevelopment plan.

That is, Mayor Jeff Schielke made the decision for the council by breaking a 7-7 tie vote and allowing the controversial mixed-use project to move forward again after Geneva-based Shodeen Construction earlier underestimated the cost of construction.

Aldermen debated Shodeen’s changes to the project at their Dec. 4 meeting, with opponents contending that the alterations, particularly the elimination of commercial space along East Wilson Street, were too much for them to support the project anymore.

“We had a vision for this, and talked about it for years,” 6th Ward Alderman Nick Cerone said.
But 1st Ward Alderman Michael O’Brien argued that the changes do not substantially alter the project.

“It’s not that great of a change,” O’Brien said. “It’s still our vision. Retail will follow. This is a game-changer for our community.”

[An artist's rendering shows the proposed One Washington Place development in the distance on the left in Batavia.]

The revised plan approved by the council will increase the number of apartments by eight, to 194, while decreasing the parking space count by 15 to a total of 335.

The new plan leaves just 5,725 square feet of commercial space along North River Street, down from the original 14,608 square feet that had been planned for the building.

City Attorney Kevin Drendel told aldermen that the revised redevelopment agreement needs work, so the council’s action did not include Shodeen’s request for the city to issue $16 million in bonds, to be repaid from tax increment financing district funds, instead of the previously agreed $14 million. That question will be addressed in January.

The $40 million project stalled this summer when construction bids came in $6 million to $8 million higher than expected.

Shodeen President Dave Patzelt said he had miscalculated the cost of the parking garage, much of which is subterranean and would require excavation of bedrock.

He also said that when preparing construction drawings, it became evident that designing accessible retail spaces on the sloping East Wilson Street frontage was impractical.

[A rendering shows the proposed One Washington Place project (distant building on right) in Batavia.]

Drendel said work needs to be done to determine whether the design changes are substantial enough to require the project to go back through the review process before the Batavia Plan Commission and Batavia Historic Preservation Commission.

Earlier this year, the Plan Commission voted down the proposal on the grounds that the six-level building is too tall, but aldermen overrode that decision.